Venezuelan petroleum coke exports appear to have halted for the past month, according to shiptracking data. This could be related to US military operations in the country, although market conditions had already substantially reduced shipments since last year.
Venezuela has not exported any petroleum coke since 19 December, preliminary data from global trade analytics platform Kpler show. This could be because of a US blockade on oil shipments from the country since December, as well as market uncertainty after the US capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on 3 January. But loadings were already slow and sporadic prior to the recent military developments, suggesting other factors could be at play.
Kpler shows Venezuela last exported a 50,600t cargo to India on 19 December 2025, after the vessel arrived at the Punta Cardon port on 30 November. Prior to that, there had been no coke shipments from the country since 18 October. In contrast, Venezuela shipped 162,000t of petroleum coke in January 2025, including 104,000t to China and 58,000t to India.
Another vessel is currently docked at Punta Cardon after loading 47,600t of coke and is scheduled to depart on Thursday, according to Kpler. But the export could be postponed because of the risks of engaging the US blockade, a trader said.
It is possible Kpler is not capturing all exports out of Venezuela. Some coke vessels may be categorized as other commodities under the Kpler system. A second trader told Argus that a vessel, the Defense, was loading coke for China just hours after the US' overnight raid on 3 January. Kpler shows this vessel departed Venezuela's Jose port for China on 26 December but does not list it as carrying coke.
Other vessels could be intentionally obscuring their location data. But data from ship research firm TankerTrackers.com suggests that even shadow fleet activity has halted in Venezuela so far this month, as US action against these vessels has discouraged such activity.
Although some vessels that were fixed before the US military intervention have been loading in Venezuela, "we didn't hear any new vessel fixture or deal for Venezuelan coke," a third trader said. "With all these big question marks about ports, counterparty, petcoke quality, demurrage etc etc, there is still a big concern about restarting petcoke shipments from Venezuela."
Venezuelan coke exports were already dropping last year, especially in the second half. The country exported less than 500,000t in July-December, compared with 908,100t in January-June. No shipments departed in June or November last year. This compares with 1.8mn t and 1.4mn t in the first and second halves of 2024.
Venezuela's coke exports likely have dropped over the past year because the arbitrage window closed for all key destinations as a result of sharp competition from US coke and low coal prices. A February-loading Venezuelan coke cargo was offered at $117/t cfr on India's west coast earlier this month, in line with offers for US and Saudi Arabian coke. Buyers typically seek a discount of at least $5/t for yet-to-be-loaded 4.5pc sulphur Venezuelan coke compared with high-sulphur US coke because of the high risk of shipping delays and more complicated payment terms.
Some buyers could be interested in purchasing Venezuelan coke that has already loaded without a buyer, but there are no floating cargoes available, the first trader said.
Demand from China, which had been the largest destination for Venezuelan coke, was especially weak last year. The country took less than 400,000t of Venezuelan coke in 2025, according to Global Trade Tracker data, and all in the first three months of the year. This compares with almost twice this much in 2024.
But there has been some increased interest in this supply in China in recent weeks because of supply tightness expectations following the US military operations. Stockpiled Venezuelan coke at Chinese ports rose to the equivalent of the low-$140s/t on a cfr basis, and a trader said this week it had bought a cargo of Venezuelan coke in the $120s/t cfr.
